Friday, October 21, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Reports Indicate Major Ukrainian Battle


Russian and Ukrainian troops appeared Thursday to be girding for a major battle over the strategic southern industrial port city of Kherson, in a region which Russian President Vladimir Putin has illegally annexed and subjected to martial law, reports AP News. Fighting and evacuations were reported in the Kherson region as Moscow tried to pound the invaded country into submission with more missile and drone attacks on critical infrastructure.

Putin declared martial law in the Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions on Wednesday in an attempt to assert Russian authority in the annexed areas as he faced battlefield setbacks, a troubled troop mobilization, increasing criticism at home and abroad, and international sanctions. The unsettled status of the illegally absorbed territory was especially visible in the Kherson region’s capital, where Russian military officials have replaced Kremlin-installed civilian leaders as part of martial law that took effect Thursday to defend against a Ukrainian counteroffensive.



➤ELON MUSK PLANS TO CUT 75% OF TWITTER WORKFORCE: Musk has told prospective investors in his Twitter purchase that he plans to cut nearly 75% of Twitter’s employee base of 7,500 workers, leaving the company with a skeleton crew, according to the report. The newspaper cited documents and unnamed sources familiar with the deliberations.  While job cuts have been expected regardless of the sale, the magnitude of Musk’s planned cuts are far more extreme than anything Twitter had planned. Musk himself has alluded to the need to cull some of the company’s staff in the past, but he hadn’t given a specific number — at least not publicly.


➤LEGAL CHALLENGES TO STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS HIT SNAGS: Two attempts to stop the Biden Administration from launching its plan to forgive some student loan debts have run into snags in court. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Comey Barrett, acting alone, rejected without comment a challenge from a Wisconsin taxpayer’s association. The action means that the full court will not take up the case. In Missouri, a federal district court judge dismissed a case brought by six Republican states arguing that President Biden did not have the authority to cancel the debts. The student loan relief program is expected to begin as soon as this Sunday.


➤FORMER VEEP COOLS ON TRUMP: Former Vice President Mike Pence may be carefully edging away from former President Donald Trump. Or, he may be signaling his own intention to run for president. Most likely, it’s both. In an appearance at Georgetown University, Pence was asked by a student if he would vote for Trump if he ran in the 2024 presidential election. Pence replied: “There might be somebody else I prefer.” The former vice president is on a speaking tour and is campaigning on behalf of Republican candidates in races across the country.



🌁SEATTLE’S AIR IS WORLD’S WORST: Seattle had the worst air quality in the world yesterday for the second day in a row. The air throughout the Pacific Northwest is clogged with smoke from nine wildfires burning in Washington state and Oregon. IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, rated Seattle’s air as “very unhealthy,” rating it worse than notoriously polluted cities in Pakistan, China and India. Local agencies have warned Seattle residents to limit outdoor exposure.

➤JURY SIDES IN FAVOR OF KEVIN SPACEY IN SEXUAL MISCONDUCT LAWSUIT:   A New York jury sided in favor of Kevin Spacey in the $40 million federal civil case brought by Anthony Rapp. The Associated Press reports that jurors deliberated for a little more than an hour before finding that the House of Cards actor did not sexually abuse Rapp in 1986. Following the verdict, Spacey’s attorney Jennifer Kelly said, “We’re very grateful to the jury for seeing through these false allegations. She added that he is “going to be proven that he’s innocent of anything he’s been accused of,” referencing other sexual misconduct claims against the actor, including criminal charges in England. Rapp wrote in a statement on Twitter, "Bringing this lawsuit was always about shining a light, as part of the larger movement to stand up against all forms of sexual violence.  "I pledge to keep on advocating for efforts to ensure that we can live and work in a world that is free from sexual violence of any kind. I sincerely hope that survivors continue to tell their stories and fight for accountability."

➤HARVEY WEINSTEIN'S LOS ANGELES RAPE TRIAL TO BEGIN MONDAY:  The Los Angeles rape trial of Harvey Weinstein will begin Monday. The disgraced Miramax producer faces four counts of rape, four counts of forcible oral copulation, one count of sexual penetration by use of force, plus one count of sexual battery by restraint and sexual battery in incidents involving five women in L.A. County over a nine-year period. According to Deadline, the trial is expected to last until the end of the year.


➤ROUGH TIMES FOR MARKLE: Social media users are calling Meghan Markle a “hypocrite” for taking a raunchy role on “90210” after leaving “Deal or No Deal” for being “reduced to a bimbo.” Earlier this week, the Duchess of Sussex claimed she left her role as a briefcase girl after growing tired of being “objectified” with the focus “solely about beauty and not necessarily about brains.” However, newly resurfaced video shows Markle made her debut back into the acting world a few years later — only to play a similar role. During a brief cameo on the rebooted CW series, the 41-year-old played a character named Wendy, who was seemingly caught giving character Ethan Ward oral sex in a car.

➤BMW EXPANDS IN SPARTANBURG: The German automaker BMW has announced it will spend one billion dollars to adapt its giant plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, to the manufacture of all-electric cars as well as hybrid and gas-powered vehicles. Another 700 million dollars will go to building a battery assembly plant in nearby Woodruff. The Woodruff location alone will add 300 local jobs. Governor Henry McMaster says it’s the biggest capital investment in South Carolina’s history.

➤SEARS STORES ARE DISAPPEARING: The once familiar Sears brand is disappearing from the American landscape, store by store. The last Sears store in South Carolina, a Sears Hometown Store in Waterboro, closed recently. New York State now has none with the closure of a store in the Newburgh Mall. A Sears Home and Life store in Anchorage is expected to close soon, as is an Appliance & Mattress store in Honolulu. The parent company of the department store chain filed for bankruptcy in October 2018.

💲GIRL SCOUTS WIN HUGE GIFT: Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated a whopping 84.5 million dollars to the Girl Scouts organization to expand opportunities for girls. Scott is rapidly giving away much of the 28.4 billion-dollar fortune she got in her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2019. Forbes magazine estimates she has donated 12.8 billion dollars to 1,200 organizations so far.

➤COLLEGE ENROLLMENT IN DECLINE: College enrollment dropped throughout the COVID pandemic, and though it has recovered somewhat, the number of people seeking higher education continues to decline. Overall, one million fewer people enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities in the last two years. The National Student Clearinghouse, which compiled the preliminary data, says the pandemic and college affordability are contributing factors. Meanwhile, the strong job market has opened opportunities to people without degrees.

👼STUDY: REMOTE WORK CREATED A MINI BABY BOOM:  A study by three economists has revealed that working from home may have created a mini baby boom!  46,000 more children were born after the start of the pandemic. This started as a small increase in 2020 and a larger bump in 2021.
Overall, the nation's fertility rate jumped by 6.3%. "The 2021 baby bump is the first major reversal in declining U.S. fertility rates since 2007 and was most pronounced for first births and women under age 25," the study said. This "baby boom" was seen among college-educated women who were more likely to work from home. Stimulus funds could have also played a role.

➤LETTUCE TAKES ON POLITICIAN AND WINS: British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned yesterday after just 45 days in office. Her brief time in office was marked by so much turmoil that the tabloid Daily Star predicted she wouldn’t last longer than a head of lettuce, which they judged has an unrefrigerated shelf life of 10 days. The tabloid then posted a video of a head of lettuce next to a picture of Prime Minister Truss so that readers could watch the drama play out. The lettuce is now sporting a little gold crown and the newspaper is hinting that it is a worthy candidate to replace Truss.

🏈NFL SCORES WEEK 7: Thursday Night Football results:
  • New Orleans Saints 42, Arizona Cardinals 34
⚾MLB ALCS:
  • Houston Astros 3  NY Yankees 2
🏈PANTHERS’ McCAFFREY TRADED TO THE 49ERS: The Carolina Panthers have traded their star running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers in return for four draft picks. The deal was reported last night by Yahoo Sports. McCaffrey should feel welcome in San Francisco. He was a star player at Stanford in his college days.

🏈DAK IS BACK: Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said he will start Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions after making it through a full practice without a hitch yesterday. He missed five games after breaking a thumb in the season opener.


🏈JETS’ MOORE WOULD RATHER BE ELSEWHERE: New York Jets wide receiver Elijah Moore is frustrated at his lack of action and would like to be traded but the team doesn’t want to lose him, according to the NFL Network. Worse yet, Moore is not the only Jets wide receiver who’d rather be elsewhere. Denzel Mims has a trade request on the table.

🎾GAUFF MAKES IT TO WTA FINALS: Coco Gauff has qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time. The 18-year-old and French player Caroline Garcia will join world number one Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur and Jessica Pegula in the singles draw for the finals in Fort Worth from October 31st to November 7th. Gauff will also play in the doubles with Pegula as her partner. They’ll be the first Americans to participate in the WTA Finals in both singles and doubles matches since Serena and Venus Williams in 2009.

➤PICKLEBALL IS HOTTING UP: Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets is the latest sports star to invest in pro pickleball. Durant is now the owner of a Major League Pickleball expansion team, along with his manager Rich Kleiman. In its second year of existence, MLP has attracted investors including the L.A. Lakers’ LeBron James, the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady.


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